幼儿园
yoù ér yuán · HSK 4
kindergarten
🧸🏫 幼 young + 儿 child + 园 garden = young-child garden
Literally a garden for young children. 幼 means young/tender, 儿 means child, and 园 means garden or enclosed grounds — the same 园 as in 公园 (park) and 花园 (flower garden).
园 — enclosure 囗 + 元 (yuán, phonetic)
园 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The outer 囗 (enclosure) shows a walled or fenced-off area, while 元 inside gives the sound 'yuán'. It originally meant a fenced garden or orchard, and still means garden, park, or cultivated grounds today.